Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto: News, Research, Opinion

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Skyrocketing Prison Population Devastating US Society: Report

Impacted communities have long slammed U.S. policies of mass
incarceration that are locking up more people than any other country in
the world. Now that criticism is also resounding from the
highly-regarded National Research Council (an arm of the National
Academy of Sciences), which issued a devastating report this week
charging that "unprecedented" levels incarceration are spreading great
social harm.
Following two years of data review, the 464-page report
delivers a round indictment of four decades of skyrocketing
incarceration that has quadrupled the prison population and torn apart
families, communities, society, and the lives of the incarcerated
people.
"Those in power have tried to dismiss and disparage the communities
and organizations who have been calling attention to these issues and
struggling to change things," Isaac Ontiveros of Critical Resistance told Common Dreams. "Now you have the center saying the same thing people having been vocal about for a generation."